Incentives and rebates are among the most powerful and underused levers in B2B commerce. Nearly every manufacturer and distributor offers them, but few are realizing their full strategic potential.
The 2025 Pricing, Selling, and Profit Optimization Report makes that clear: 78% of surveyed companies use rebates or incentives, but most rely on basic, volume-based structures. These programs reward growth in size, not in value, and that’s a missed opportunity.
Volume-based rebates are simple to calculate, but they don’t guide the behaviors that actually drive profitability, like selling higher-margin products or growing strategic accounts. And because most rebate processes are still managed manually, they’ve become an administrative burden rather than a competitive advantage.
It’s time for a mindset shift: Rebates should shape revenue, not just track it.
The Volume-Based Trap
The data tells a story of widespread adoption but limited evolution. Every company surveyed with a rebate program reported using volume-based structures. These are easy to monitor, but they rarely reward the right outcomes.
That hasn’t stopped teams from feeling good about them: 73% of companies rate their programs as effective. But effectiveness doesn’t equal efficiency. The reality is that many of these programs deliver diminishing returns because they don’t evolve with business goals.
As Israel Rodrigo, Business Consultant at Vendavo, puts it:
Rebate management has grown, but many companies still rely on basic, volume-based models. Without a purpose-built solution, these companies can’t design, enforce, or optimize rebates that align with real customer behavior. As a result, they miss out on opportunities to drive growth, reward the right actions, and tie incentives to true value delivered.”
That’s the gap between comfort and control. Rebate programs work, but they could work so much harder.
Execution Lags Behind Ambition
Even as organizations expand their incentive strategies, execution struggles to keep up. According to the report, 82% of surveyed companies offer performance-based rebates, 72% pair them with enablement or training programs, and 64% have simplified tools or exclusive pricing offers.
On paper, that’s impressive. In practice, the lack of automation and data integration makes execution slow and error-prone.
More than half (55%) of respondents describe their rebate programs as “administratively intensive,” with teams juggling spreadsheets, emails, and disconnected systems to track performance. That manual effort is more than just a productivity drain. It’s a strategic barrier. It delays accruals, creates audit risk, and frustrates both customers and internal stakeholders.
In fact, only 35% of surveyed companies have meaningful rebate automation in place. That means most rebate management still lives in spreadsheets, making it impossible to see (or prove) ROI.
The result? Delayed payments, hidden disputes, and an inability to connect rebate spend to performance outcomes.
Automation as a Growth Accelerator
Companies that have automated rebate management are already seeing the payoff. When rebate logic is integrated into core systems like ERP or CRM, teams gain real-time visibility into program performance, reducing disputes and strengthening partner relationships.
The report shares a compelling case study: Genpak, a leading food packaging manufacturer, embedded rebate accrual and payout processes directly into its commercial systems. The outcome:
- On-time, consistent customer payments
- Dramatically reduced administrative burden
- Improved customer satisfaction
By treating rebates as infrastructure instead of an afterthought, Genpak turned a cost center into a loyalty driver.
That’s the future of rebate management, not spreadsheets and retroactive reconciliations, but automated systems that enable visibility, velocity, and value creation.
The ROI Blind Spot
Despite the clear financial implications of rebates, ROI remains elusive for most organizations. According to the report, only 9% of companies have full clarity on rebate ROI, while the majority are “flying blind” when it comes to performance measurement.
This lack of visibility has real consequences. Without measurable data, rebate strategies can’t evolve, and success becomes anecdotal rather than analytical.
As David Anderson, Vice President of Business Consulting at Vendavo, explains:
“You can’t optimize what you can’t see. Most rebate programs run on assumptions, not evidence. Until companies have the tools to track ROI in real time, they’ll keep repeating the same patterns — hoping for improvement, but never proving it.”
When rebate ROI becomes measurable, it changes the conversation across the organization. Finance sees rebates as investments, not expenses. Pricing teams can refine program logic based on performance. Sales gains confidence that incentives are working as intended.
The Ownership Problem
Another critical issue is ownership or rather, the lack of it.
Rebate programs often sit in a gray zone, touching multiple teams but owned by none. The survey found:
- Finance is involved in 51% of cases
- Pricing teams in 42%
- Sales leadership in 36%
- Executives or C-suite in 23%V
Only 18% of companies have a dedicated rebate team. Without a single accountable owner, it’s nearly impossible to modernize these programs or tie them to strategic goals.
Unclear ownership leads to inconsistent program design, outdated incentive structures, and poor performance tracking. Programs get renewed by default rather than redesigned with intent.
The fix isn’t complicated but cultural. Rebate programs need defined roles and shared accountability. Pricing should own design and optimization, finance should ensure controls and compliance, and sales should execute the strategy in market.
When these teams align under a unified rebate strategy, rebate management moves from reactive to proactive, and from cost to catalyst.
A Strategic Roadmap for Smarter Rebates
The 2025 Pricing, Selling, and Profit Optimization Report outlines several key actions for organizations that want to evolve rebates into true growth levers:
1. Design beyond volume
Move away from one-size-fits-all thresholds. Use incentives that promote profitable growth — product mix, bundling, seasonal triggers, or account expansion.
2. Track what matters
ROI tracking tools reveal which programs drive real performance. Measurement isn’t just reporting — it’s how you justify and refine investment.
3. Automate for visibility and velocity
Digitize the full flow from program design to payout validation. Automation removes administrative drag and enables real-time optimization.
4. Assign ownership and accountability
Make rebate management a cross-functional discipline. Define clear roles for pricing, finance, and sales to ensure alignment and performance.
These aren’t theoretical suggestions — they’re the proven behaviors of high-performing rebate organizations.
The Future of Rebates Is Strategic
Rebates have long been seen as back-office complexity, a necessary but painful part of doing business. But when managed strategically, they become something far more powerful: a growth engine.
The shift is already happening. The organizations leading the charge are automating workflows, integrating data, and measuring ROI with confidence. They’re using rebates not just to move volume, but to drive behaviors that protect margins, improve channel loyalty, and accelerate growth.
It’s time to reimagine rebates for what they truly are: not financial afterthoughts, but strategic assets.
Read the full 2025 Pricing, Selling, and Profit Optimization Report to see how leading manufacturers and distributors are transforming their rebate and incentive programs into drivers of growth and profitability.